Diving Saucer
Just as the wheel allowed greater efficiency in travel, the diving saucer of the Conshelf program offered greater efficiency in exploring the seemingly untouchable seabed. Jacques Cousteau explored these challenges of underwater habitation. He studied this to be able to consider the implications of ocean production. Being able to get real production value from the sea meant being able to get down to the seabed first. The experimenting for him began with many devices including an important aspect of exploration, the “diving saucer” that allowed travel underwater. It was clear to Cousteau that the process of supplying diver’s with the necessary equipment to be able to accomplish anything worthwhile was cumbersome. The Conshelf program explored the idea of extending time underwater to enable greater uninterrupted work shifts void of the tedious process of resurfacing. The program offered a way into the sea ecosystem and a way into utilizing the other three quarters of the earth’s surface. The resource possibilities expand into multiple fields and products. Aquaculture, energy production, and mining become more resourceful since the Conshelf program. These productions are no longer out of reach, they can be monitored and maintained like crops in Nebraska. The sea offers great advances in ways to produce food, minerals, and energy to sustain land life and reduce stress on our home.